Funny Frances May

This week there have been a few funny moments with Fran that I would like to share with all of you.

Every Tuesday at Pleasant Manor Rehab is “Beauty Saloon” Day. All the ladies get so excited and look forward to coming back with the same blue hair-do, curled tight and very shiny. Fran told me she wanted to go again and get her hair done like she had last week. I let the social director know and she made her a standing appointment. Philip stopped in to see Fran this past Tuesday in the middle of the afternoon. He couldn’t find her in her room, not in therapy, and not in the dining hall. He finally was directed to the “beauty saloon”. When he walked in he found Fran sound asleep under the dryer. He said she looked peaceful, so he went back to work.

I stopped by later to see her and told her how nice her hair-do looked. She said she had to tell the hairstylist not to put any of that purple and blue stuff on her hair because “it makes you look old” and she is a lot younger than anyone in there. The social worker Belyne sat down with Fran to have a glass of tea. Out of the clear blue sky she told Belyne that “getting old sucks”. Where did that come from? Belyne laughed and that seemed to get Fran going so she said it a few more times. I still have trouble visualizing Fran, my mother-in-law, at the age of 83, and always a southern lady, saying something like that!!!! (From Mary: I wonder if she knows what it means?)

Yesterday I stopped in about 2:00 pm and Fran had just gotten back from therapy. We talked for a bit and I told her that there were some singers in the social hall and we should go catch their show. I wheeled her down and we found a spot up front for her wheelchair and a chair for me. Two men were playing guitars and singing bluegrass. All the ladies (most with blue hair) were having a good time joking back and forth with the performers. Fran was tapping her foot, clapping and singing along to “Happy Trails to You”. She looked real cute.

After the performers finished, the social director announced that the next activity was board games. Fran pulled me close and said, “Maribeth, let's get out of here, I want no part of these silly games.” I pushed her out to the front hallway and we sat and visited. She told me that the music the men played would go real well in Texas. I told her we were in Texas, she said to me, “You may be in Texas, but I’m in Virginia.” We both laughed so hard. She loves to be funny and still enjoys joking around.

Sometimes Fran’s mind is with us and "right on", other times she is in her own little world. Most of the time she appears to be upbeat and I have noticed fewer times of paranoia. Keep the prayers and cards coming.

Fran May’s Favorite Daughter-in-law,
Maribeth